Morris brothers created unique situation for Phoenix Suns
Sep 30, 2014, 3:15 AM | Updated: Oct 1, 2014, 4:27 am
PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns’ dealings with Eric Bledsoe generated the majority of the headlines over the summer, but Monday they were able to quietly re-sign forwards Markieff and Marcus Morris.
The relationship between the twins probably led to one of more of the unique contract situations in NBA history.
“This was the only way,” said Marcus when asked if the brothers were open to playing without each other. “If it was open we probably wouldn’t have signed, probably would have kept going. Since day one since we picked up a basketball it’s been our dream to be on an NBA team together. We did it in college, we did it in high school and the Suns made our dreams come true.”
This led to Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby trying out a new method.
“I did something I had never done before in my life,” explained Babby. “First off all, I never negotiated two contracts at once with two brothers that were twins. Once they agreed on the amount of money, I gave them the first crack at how they wanted to divide it up.”
The agreed upon amount was four years and $52 million in total, and according to AZCentral Sports’ Paul Coro, Markieff got $32 million while Marcus got the other $20 million.
The contracts do not have no trade clauses in them, which leads to questions of whether or not the brothers were given any verbal assurances about potentially being split up.
“The answer to that is we want them here, we know they’re better together,” responded Babby. “They push each other not only as players, but as men. What I said to them was we’re not going to give you any contractual insurances, we can’t, the rules are pretty strict anyway. The best way you can insure you’re together is to play well, be successful and work hard. I’m confident they’ll do that.”
It is widely assumed Markieff will take over the starting spot vacated by Channing Frye, who left to sign with the Orlando Magic. The departure of Frye will also impact Marcus, as he is now arguably the best three-point shooting forward on the roster.